The use of window blinds including venetian blinds, mini blinds, micro blinds, and other foldable blinds have become increasingly popular as window treatments in homes, apartments, and in commercial office spaces. Notwithstanding the increasing popularity of these blinds, to date no one has offered a satisfactory way of shipping the blinds or like elongate fragile products. Typically these blinds, along with the accompanying hardware to hang the blinds, are wrapped together or separate in bubble wrap or like material, and then shipped in an elongate box.
This method of shipment is deficient in several respects. First, often times the blinds are damaged in shipment because the box creases and folds along the length of the box or crushes at its ends thereby allowing the blinds to do the same. Second, in order to inspect the blinds that have been shipped to see if they are the correct color or if they have the proper hardware, one must not only open the box but must also unwrap the bubble wrap. This is a time consuming process especially if one is installing blinds, say in a high-rise complex, where many shipments of blinds have arrived in various sizes and colors. Not only is it time consuming process but this practice also leads to additional damage to the blinds when they are improperly packaged and sent back to the manufacturer or distributor.